Stealer
by sgkat
Summary: ***Indefinite? hiatus*** *AU* In a world where intercision is perfectly normal, where the horrors of Bolvangar are commonplace, a great crime had been committed: someone is stealing the experimental test subjects.
1. Chapter 1

_**Stealer**_

AU In a world where intercision is perfectly normal, where the horrors of Bolvangar are commonplace, a great crime had been committed: someone is stealing the experimental test subjects.

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**_Disclaimer:_** _I do not own anything relating to or belonging to His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman._

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_**Chapter 1: Bad Tidings**_

Mrs. Coulter sat at her desk, looking over the latest intercision reports from the Northern Station. They were by far the best. The reports from the stations that had been opened since were not quite so good. The First Station still led in successful intercisions. And the doctors up there were experimenting with conscious subjects, something the doctors in the south were avoiding.

She mulled over the-less-than-satisfactory documents. The General Oblation Board would have to raise the standards for those Stations in the south. The public was beginning to ask for more experiments, even paying for the Board to take their children. The time had come for more drastic measures if there was to be success.

Her dæmon, perched on a shelf by her head, shifted slightly, alerting her that someone was coming.

A man walked into her study, his raccoon dæmon ambling in on his heels. She looked around in curiosity, though she did not look uncomfortable. Mrs. Coulter, however, knew that she wasn't as tame as she appeared. Her own golden monkey casually dropped from the shelf nimbly to her lap.

As she gently patted his silky fur, she recognized the man. He was a lesser doctor at the Northern Station. A mixture of anger and dismay coursed through her veins. If all was well, as the reports indicated, what was he doing here?

"Yes?" she asked coolly.

"Ma'am, I don't mean to… to alarm you… but –"

"What is it?"

"T-there have been some… problems… at the Station."

"What kind of problems?"

"Er… break-ins and robbery, ma'am."

"What kind of robbery?" she asked in a deadly soft voice.

"A – a few subjects have been taken."

Mrs. Coulter stood up, outraged. Her dæmon leapt to the edge of her desk, baring his sharp white teeth in a feral smile. "And why was I not informed sooner?"

"I – I really don't know, ma'am."

As the fateful answer left the man's lips, the golden monkey jumped for the raccoon on the floor. He landed squarely on her back, digging his sharp black hands into her fur. She snarled, trying to throw him off.

"Let her go!" the man gasped.

"I suggest you get a full report of the robberies for me," she said sweetly.

"I – I will! Just let her go!"

Mrs. Coulter signaled to the golden monkey, and he reluctantly loosened his grip. Slowly, he got off her back and walked over to her. She scooped him up lovingly. "Well?"

"Y-you will have the report tomorrow!"

"Good! Now get out of my sight!"

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_A/N: When I was re-reading (yet again) the part about Bolvangar in The Golden Compass, this idea hit me, and I just had to write it down._

_So, what did you think? Tell me in a review!_

_-Oh, if you're wondering, yes, Lyra and Will are going to show up. _


	2. Chapter 2

_**Stealer**_

**_Disclaimer:_** _I do not own anything relating to or belonging to His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman._

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_**Chapter 2: Infiltration **_

_Flashback_

Lyra Belacqua stood silently in the cold snow, staring across the white landscape to her destination. Her dæmon, Pantalaimon, sat still at her feet, shaped as a white hare. The wind picked, blowing her bangs into her eyes, despite her hood. She brushed them impatiently aside, though it neither helped nor hindered her vision.

Pantalaimon broke the silence. "The Station."

"Yeah," Lyra replied. "Let's go."

She set off at a slow walk, pretending to be cold, frightened, and possibly injured. That was the task given to her by her superiors, after all. She had to get into that complex of buildings…

_End Flashback_

Lyra wandered down the surgically clean white corridors of the station, pretending to be innocently lost. Just in case. In actuality, she knew exactly where she was.

It was one of the reasons that the mission had been given to her, apart from the fact that she was still a child. Her sense of direction kept her from getting lost in the maze of halls and corridors of Bolvangar.

"Dear, are you lost?" asked a pretty nurse in a white smock. Her dæmon, a scarlet macaw, sat on her shoulder without showing any signs of curiosity or intelligence. Pan, mouse-shaped in her pocket, shivered.

"Yes, ma'am," Lyra sniffed.

"How ever did you wind up in this musty corridor?" the nurse asked, gesturing at the spotless walls.

"Got lost," Lyra mumbled, looking down and shuffling her feet.

"Oh, dear," the nurse said. "Come with me."

The nurse led Lyra through new corridors without paying any attention to her subject. But Lyra remembered every hall and turn.

"Here's the play room," the nurse said, after about five minutes of walking. She opened the door and gestured Lyra through it. "Now be a good girl, dear." She walked off, her dæmon unmoving on her shoulder.

"Hey, what happened to you?" hollered a girl in the crowd.

"Nothing," Lyra snapped.

"She got lost," another girl sniggered.

"Stupid!" came a shout from the back of the room..

"Can't even find her own way back from the toilet!" someone else taunted.

Lyra ignored them and walked over to the toy box in the corner. She chose three limp dolls and carried them away with her to play tea party.

She had to stay inconspicuous. This was her home now, after all.

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_A/N: I know it's short, sorry. But it's setting the scene for the rest of the story. Let me know what you think!_


End file.
